South African splendor at UC Santa Cruz Arboretum (summer 2016 edition)

Noël Coward once suggested than only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun. Something similar could be said for plant geeks who visit botanical gardens at the height of summer. I'm definitely one of them. And I'm not even slightly bothered by the fact that some people might consider us crazy.

Case in point: Last Saturday I left Davis before 7:00 a.m. to make the 2 hr. 15 min. drive to Santa Cruz, one of my favorite places on the California coast. My destination wasn't the beach though, it was the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) Arboretum. I hadn't been there since November 2012—almost four years ago—and I felt the urge to find out what might be in bloom in the middle of the summer.

Protea repens ‘Rubens’

In their own words, the UCSC Arboretum “has the largest collection of Australian and South African plants outside of their native countries” as well as “the most diverse collection of eucalyptus and their relatives to be found in one easy-to-access area, an unmatched collection of conifers and other trees, and extensive representatives of New Zealand and native California flora.” In particular, I was looking forward to seeing what their many Proteacea (proteas, leucadendrons, leucospermums, grevilleas, banksias, etc.) would be like at a time of year when many gardens struggle under the heat and lack of water.

Protea repens ‘Rubens’

In this post I will cover the South African Garden, to be followed by a post on the Australian Garden and some other interesting plants I came across.

There are 80+ photos in this post. I know it’s a bit self-indulgent but there are so many beautiful plants I want to show you. I considered grouping them by genus but instead I’ll let you experience them in the random way I encountered them. That makes the discovery even more enjoyable.

Protea repens ‘Rubens’

I’ve never been to South Africa, but few countries have such a diversity of plants. Arid regions like the Karoo are home to succulents like aloes, crassulas, gasterias, haworthias, euphorbias, mesembs, and many others—more than 3,000 succulents species in total. That’s the kind of vegetation many of us think of when we hear “South Africa.”

However, South Africa also has ecosystems that are less arid. The best known of these is the Fynbos, the heath- and shrubland of the Western Cape. It covers 90,000 square miles and hosts 8,600 plant species. The best known Fynbos natives include the ericas, restios, and proteas. These are the kinds of South African plants represented in the UCSC Arboretum.

Protea repens ‘Rubens’

The flowers above are from this Protea repens ‘Rubens’ growing right at the entrance to the South African Garden:

Protea repens ‘Rubens’

While many sugarbushes (Protea sp.) were not in bloom, a few (mostly Protea repens cultivars) were.

Protea neriifolia

But a lack of fresh flowers doesn’t mean they were boring. Quite the opposite. The remains of last year’s flowers were beautiful in their own way.

And what would summer be without spider webs!

Most proteas were in an active growth phase. Maybe I’ll get a chance to visit again in the fall or winter when they will be in flower.

Protea ‘Pink Ice’

Protea ‘Pink Ice’

Protea ‘Pink Ice’

One of the biggest surprises were the conebushes (Leucadendron sp.). I had not expected them to be so vibrant at this time of year. Winter, yes. Summer, no. But I was wrong.

Most of the conebushes weren’t labeled but many are either Leucadendron salignum or L. salignum cultivars or hybrids (such as ‘Winter Red’ or ‘Safari Sunset’)

Even dead branches looked cool:

OK, a few more:

Leucadendron ‘Safari Sunshine’ (aka ‘Jester’)

Leucadendron sessile

Leucadendron muirii

Leucadendron muirii

And a few more sugarbushes:

Protea repens ‘Summer Pink’

Protea repens ‘Summer Pink’

Protea repens ‘Summer Pink’

Back to the conebushes. The largest, and arguably most striking, species is Leucadendron argenteum, the fabled silvertree. Endemic only to a small area outside of Cape Town, South Africa, it can grow to 25 ft. in suitable climates. However, it is relatively short lived as far as trees go, with a natural life span of no more than 20 years. The UCSC Arboretum has several juveniles and one in the 20-ft. range.

Yes, the leaves really are that soft

Right next to the tall Leucadendron argenteum above is an unlabeled pincushion (Leucospermum sp.) that to me has the nicest looking leaves of any in the genus. They make the shrub attractive enough to stand on its own—even without the flowers which are usually the main reason for growing pincushions.

Most pincushions weren’t in bloom but I found a few here and there that still had some flowers:

Leucospermum erubescens

Leucospermum parile, a true oddity in the genus

The two hybrids below had the best flowers:

Leucospermum glabrum × conocarpodendron. The best known hybrid of this parentage is ‘Veldfire’ (see this stunner I photographed in San Diego County last year).

Leucospermum glabrum × conocarpodendron

Leucospermum glabrum × conocarpodendron

Leucospermum glabrum × conocarpodendron (entire shrub)

Unlabeled pincushion, possibly of Leucospermum glabrum parentage as well

Many heathers (Erica sp.) were blooming profusely. Most weren’t labeled, and since I’m no Erica expert, I don’t really know what they were.

Finally, at the far side of the South African Garden where it abuts the Australian Garden, I found my hands-down favorite conebush: Leucadendron ‘Safari Sunshine’. This variegated sport of ‘Safari Sunset’ (Leucadendron salignum × laureolum) is typically sold under the cultivar name ‘Jester’. From a distance it may look like the common ‘Safari Sunset’ but up close the variegation becomes obvious. It’s a stunner!

Next to ‘Safari Sunshine’ is a mystery shrub with an intricate, lacy branch structure. Like so many plants, it wasn’t labeled. If you know what it is, please leave a comment below.

Time for a few more sugarbushes (Protea sp.):

Protea repens

Protea repens

Protea repens

How about a couple of restios?

Elegia capensis

Elegia capensis

And more heathers! They were blooming profusely.

Here is a South African shrub I’ve been lusting after for a while. It goes by the very appropriate name featherhead (Phylica pubescens). When you see the foliage, you automatically want to touch it. It’s hard to find in nurseries (Norrie’s, the UCSC Arboretum’s gift and plant shop, didn’t have any in stock) but I’m hoping the Ruth Bancroft Garden Nursery will get some in time for the fall planting season.

Phylica pubescens and Leucadendron ‘Wilson’s Wonder’

Phylica pubescens and Leucadendron ‘Wilson’s Wonder’

Phylica pubescens

Probably the best restio specimens in the entire arboretum are right behind (above) Norrie’s, the above-mentioned gift and plant shop:

Leucadendron ‘Wilson’s Wonder’ (front), Elegia capensis (top left), Chondropetalum tectorum (top right)

Leucadendron ‘Wilson’s Wonder’ (front), Elegia capensis (top left), Chondropetalum tectorum (top right)

Elegia capensis (left), Chondropetalum tectorum (right)

Elegia capensis (left), Chondropetalum tectorum (right)

Elegia capensis

This is also where I found two of the rarest proteas in the collection, Mimetes cucullatus and Mimetes chrysanthus. They must have been planted in recent years because I don’t remember them from my previous visits.

Mimetes cucullatus is the shrub I went bonkers over at Annie’s Annuals in Richmond last year. I bought a very small (tiny, really) cutting at the time but it didn’t make it; I don’t think it was well rooted. The two specimens at the UCSC Arboretum weren’t blooming, but they were actively growing and looked very healthy.

In contrast, the second mimetes, Mimetes chrysanthus, had quite a few flowers. Not only had I never seen a Mimetes chrysanthus before, I hadn’t even heard of it! Apparently it wasn’t discovered until 1987 and is considered rare in its native habitat on Gamka Mountain in South Africa. I don’t know how challenging it is to grow in California, but I think it would prove to be quite popular if it became more widely available.

20 years ago we got this close to moving to the Santa Cruz area. We had already agreed to rent a house when the deal fell through, literally at the last minute. I often wonder what would have happened if we had moved there. Maybe I would now have my own garden full of these spectacular South African beauties...

Map data © 2016 Google